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Book Arts

In their broadest sense, the book arts are at the core of our inventory. To be sure, the category encompasses the specialties that you see on our homepage, such as Fine Printing, Fine Binding, and Illustrated Books. However, it also includes such things as writing books and calligraphy, fore-edge paintings, books on papermaking, and leaf books.

Antwerp: J.E. Buschmann, 1896. Octavo. 61pp. From an edition of 112, this is one of twelve copies for private circulation, and signed by the printer, Buschmann. Illustrated throughout by with eight fine full-page woodcut plates, several text figures, head- and tailpieces, and decorated initial letters printed in black and brown... More

Guy Oliver Duncan, (n.d.). Broadside measuring 21 7/16 by 13 3/4 inches. One of twenty-five numbered copies, signed by the author and printer, Guy Oliver Duncan. Contains six poems by Duncan: "Feelings of a Lost Conviction," "(I see nothing)," "The Rising Sun," "The Spires," "Vanda," and "The Call of the... More

N.P. n.d. Black & white photograph measuring 4 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches. A posed portrait showing a younger William Addison Dwiggins, likely in his early 40s, standing in front of a garden holding a hoe. The photographer is credited on the verso as C. H. Marble. Very fine. More

(Boston): Boston Public Library, 1974. 12mo. 24pp. With a frontispiece portrait of Dwiggins. Fine copy in wrappers, illustrated with a Dwiggins ornament on front cover. "Abbe Talk, Boston Library '74" written in pen on front cover. More

Brooklyn: Mergenthaler Linotype Company, 1939. Octavo. 27pp. Booklet announcing the new printing type Caledonia, designed by William Addison Dwiggins, with numerous specimens illustrating the typeface. Includes a note on the face by Dwiggins and a note on Dwiggins by "Hermann Püterschein," Dwiggins's alter ego and chief critic. A pencil note... More

(Hingham, MA): c. 1930s. A black & white photograph of a marionette made by W. A. Dwiggins, measuring 10 by 10 1/2 inches. The marionette is a likeness of F. Morton Smith, a Boston lawyer who was married to Margaret Coatsworth, the sister of the children's book author and illustrator... More

NY: Limited Editions Club, 1932. Quarto. 23pp.,(4)ff. One of 452 copies signed by Dwiggins. Dwiggins facetiously discusses the atrocities of the present design of currency and postage stamps, proposing new ones based on those issued by the fictional country of the Antipodes. Includes plates of Antipodean stamps, and a currency... More

1860. Single leaf measuring 5 by 7 3/4 inches. A drawing of a young man and woman glancing shyly at each other, with their noses drawn in an angular fashion so as to point at each other. Below the figures is penned words “i cant [sic] stop long this time.”... More

Argus Books. Broadside measuring 25 by 19 inches. A reproduction of a notice posted by order of the Sacramento City Settlers' Association on June 14, 1850 warning the unwary of "a number of men with remarkable principles, who go among those who have newly arrived and offer to sell or... More

(c. 1940-1945). Oblong 24mo. (30)ff. An autograph book made by Albert "Al" Cummings between 1940 and 1945. Includes messages in morse code, poems (good and bad), and cartoons from friends, neighbors, sailors on the SS Fairfax, and soldiers from the 32nd Ordnance Company identified as being from all around New... More

Petersham, Massachusetts: Lone Oak Press, 2005. Oblong quarto. 89pp. From an edition of fourteen deluxe copies and 70 standard copies, this is one of five deluxe copies chosen to be specially bound for the international traveling exhibit "InsideOUT: Contemporary Bindings of Private Press Books," and as such, it does not... More

(Wakefield, Yorkshire): Fleece Press, (1986). Large quarto. (10)pp., + (19)ff. One of 200 copies printed from the original blocks on handmade paper. Illustrated with twenty wood engravings by Underwood that were cut in the 1920s and 1930s. Underwood's Brook Green School produced a great many accomplished wood engravers, among them... More

(Wakefield, W. Yorkshire: Fleece Press, 1989). 38 pp. One of 200 copies signed by the author, Ward Ritchie, and by the printer, Simon Lawrence. Engravings by Anthony Christmas. A brief history of private presses, along with the memoirs of a master printer who learned his trade in the Thirties in... More

Northridge, CA: Lord John Press, 1981. 29 pp. From an edition of 400, this is one of 100 copies specially bound by Bela Blau. Signed by President Gerald R. Ford. The text of a September 1980 address given to the Visa International Convention in Quebec encouraging world peace for economic... More

(NY: Spiral Press), 1953. First edition. One of 587 copies with Frost's imprint. Decorations by Philip Grushkin. This copy bears an inscription by Frost on the title page to William Sloane and his wife, Julie. Sloane was Frost's editor at Holt and headed up the trade department from 1938 to... More

Paris: Librairie Gründ, 1950. Quarto. 237pp., + 48 plates, nine of which are in color. One of 700 copies. This authoritative text and bibliography on the French “Game of the Goose” and its derivatives is illustrated throughout with images relating to the game, including many whimsical geese. The plates are... More

1896-1905. A collection of nine color Christmas cards for the years 1897 through 1905, designed by Georgie Gaskin for Laurence W. Hodson and his family. The cards feature delicate vining borders intertwined with banners that extend the Christmas greeting for that year. The subjects of the cards include the Hodson... More

1896-1905. 5ff. An original pen & ink drawing and two proofs, one hand-colored and one printed, plus a final printed copy of a Christmas card designed by Georgie Gaskin for Laurence W. Hodson and his family. The card is for the year 1896 and depicts Santa Claus, heavily laden with... More

(Northampton, MA: Gehenna Press, 1967). Quarto. (31)ff. One of 250 copies, this one inscribed in pencil from Leonard Baskin to Ben Tighe, a well-known bookseller in the Northampton area. The inscription is curiously dated "1947" in Baskin's hand. Using the collection of type ornaments owned by Bruce Rogers, Baskin has... More

1924. On paper measuring 6 1/4 by 5 3/8 inches (159x137mm), mounted to a bifolium sheet. One of six copies signed by Gill in graphite at the lower corner. This is one of eight of Gill's delicate white line engravings that is featured in Enid Clay's Sonnets and Verses, published... More

Berkeley, CA: Pacific Film Archive, 1973. Broadside measuring 24 by 18 1/4 inches. One of 500 copies. Designed by California artist David Lance Goines and printed in 10 colors, this advertisement for a film series at the Pacific Film Archive features an image of Veronica, daughter of Solome, who took... More

Oakland, CA: Karl Kardel Co. 1974. Broadside measuring 24 by 18 1/4 inches. One of 1,850 copies. Designed by California artist David Lance Goines and printed in 8 colors, this advertisement for Karl Kardel Co. features a bumblebee over an ochre background. The design was inspired by an unknown philosopher's... More

Original artwork by Edward Gorey from Hauntings: Tales of the Supernatural, edited by Henry Mazzeo. Signed by the artist. The artwork corresponds to page 110 of the book and depicts three illustrations from "The Open Door," two of the door itself and one of Mrs. Oliphant in bed. Housed in... More